WILSON: Bill Castle’s legacy at Lakeland is one that will be remembered for generations to come

After 52 years of coaching at Lakeland High School including 47 years as the head coach, the time for Bill Castle to step away from the game came yesterday as people are starting to return from the winter holiday break around the state.

While the announcement was not a total shock to most high school football fans in the Sunshine State and around the country, the news is still a lot to take in given the fact no head coach in the history of high school football in Florida stayed as the head coach at one school for his entire coaching career.

Not even the late Corky Rogers, who still leads the state with the most state championships won by one coach at any program in Florida with 10, spent all his time at one school over his 45-year history as a head coach which his record is split between Lee (Jacksonville) now known as Riverside and Bolles (Jacksonville).

Castle who came into the season needing just a handful of games to catch Rogers’ state win record for most wins by a football coach in Florida at 465 did just that during the 2022 season by capping off his overall win record with 473 wins that included winning the 2022 Class 4S State Championship over Venice last month in Fort Lauderdale.

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All of this is from one man at one school who was a head coach in all or part of six different decades is something that is traditionally unheard of and will unlikely be ever seen again by a coach in this state for many generations to come.

Castle coached nine Dreanaughts teams to a state championship game, winning eight of those state championships with titles won in 1986 (5A), 1996 (5A), 1999 (5A), 2004 (5A), 2005 (5A), 2006 (5A), 2018 (7A), and 2022 (4S) to pair with the 29 district championships he won as a coach. His eight state championship victories are the most won by a head football coach at a public school in Florida.

Those teams between 2004 and 2006 are the most remembered of any of the Lakeland teams that Castle coached, coaching them to a 53-game winning streak between 2004 and 2007 which broke the record of 52 straight wins that was set by Union County (Lake Butler) between 1994 and 1997, winning three straight state championships, all against St. Thomas Aquinas, and two national championships in 2005 and 2006.

Now for myself as a multimedia journalist, watching Lakeland in two of the state championship games of the eight that Castle won was a treat to watch, not just from the journalistic side but as a fan of the game, so let’s talk about the impressiveness of the two-state championship games I did get to watch Castle coach in and just how much I will remember these two games.

First, let’s talk about that 2018 game in the Class 7A state championship game against St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) first because it was the first state championship game appearance for Lakeland since 2008 when they got outpaced by St. Thomas Aquinas 56-7 in the Class 5A state championship game that year, the only time Castle ever lost a state championship game.

In that game in 2018, there was a vibe that this Lakeland team was different in many ways, but some wondered if the Dreadnaughts would be able to match up well against the Raiders, an old foe that Castle went 5-1 against in state championship games.

That night on December 7, 2018,  the Dreadnaughts were coming in as the underdog to the Raiders who were the No. 1 ranked team in the state and ranked by multiple publications nationally. However, the 14-0 Dreadnaughts at the time appreciated the underdog status given that most people thought St. Thomas Aquinas would easily stammer the Dreadnaughts toward another state championship victory.

However, Castle’s methodical coaching approach was something that was most overlooked and under-appreciated given the era of high-paced football that has taken precedence, but if you look at it overall, the methodical approach is what has won Castle the state championships he has won.

In that game, the Dreadnaughts worked up to a 10-0 lead in the state championship at halftime that ended up with a 33-20 victory that capped off a perfect 15-0 season.

Running back Demarkus Bowman and cornerback Fenley Graham had explosive plays on a rushing touchdown and Graham exploding for a kickoff return touchdown that helped propel the Dreadnaughts to that victory under the lights at Camping World Stadium in Orlando.

If you told me that Lakeland would have won this game on that December night in Orlando, I would have likely said no, but I know we could not count Lakeland out given their history. Even looking through the pick’ems I was a part of at that time in 2018, I had taken St. Thomas Aquinas in that one, but Lakeland played its finest game of the 2018 season that night and earned that victory.

Now looking back on the most recent state championship victory that came just last month, the Dreadnaughts were nasty on defense which was one of their calling cards during the 2022 season. Players like Larry Jones III had an impressive performance along with Idris King added to that list for the Dreadnaughts in the Class 4S State Championship game while opposing teams did not want to go anywhere near Cormani McClain if they could avoid doing so.

Watching that game on the sideline, I saw again the methodical approach of the Dreadnaughts of playing defense when it mattered getting their opponent off the field on offense and being methodical with the offense on running plays, using the clock to their advantage and orchestrating long drives that gave the Dreadnaughts the points needed to win.

Overall, I could sense at the time on the afternoon on December 17, 2022, that Castle was going to ultimately hang it up. The opportunity to retire while riding high from a state championship victory is the greatest way to exit and for Castle to be able to do that on his own terms is extremely impressive.

And the way to exit was marked by Lakeland High’s tribute of words to express everything that Coach Castle has done for one of the oldest programs in the state with the statement the posted yesterday.

A statement from the LHS Athletic Department: pic.twitter.com/wvYs2JDAYY

— Lakeland Dreadnaughts (@LHSNaughts) January 3, 2023

The last part “Bill Castle is synonymous with Lakeland Football and winning. He leaves a monumental legacy in his wake as FHSAA Coach of the Century,” is the most important part of it all highlighting his selection as one of 12 coaches selected to the FHSAA all-century football team in 2007 highlighting 100 years of high school football in the Sunshine State.

The legacy includes coaching numerous players that went on to play college football at the highest level and some of them eventually become star players in the NFL with too many to list here for the sake of listing all the athletes Castle has had an impact on.

In this moment in my thought while putting this commentary together… Castle should be billed as “Florida’s Greatest All-Time High School Football Coach,” a title he should hold for many generations to come and is an honor he has rightfully earned.

Coach Castle, may we wish you the best in retirement and thank you for giving a lot of us – old and young – in the Sunshine State and across the nation a lot of great football memories to last a lifetime. Your contributions to high school football will be unmatched!